Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) and identify the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended dose of nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine as a first-line treatment in Chinese patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA).
Methods: Patients with previously untreated advanced PDA were treated with nab-paclitaxel followed by gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m(2)) administered intravenously for 30 min on days 1 and 8 and repeated every 21 days.
Results: Patients received nab-paclitaxel at the following dose levels: 80 mg/m(2) (n = 3), 100 mg/m(2) (n = 6), and 120 mg/m(2) (n = 12). The DLTs evaluated were elevated alanine aminotransferase and febrile neutropenia. However, there had no two out of three to six patients experienced DLTs, the MTD was not met. A total of 93 cycles were administered. The most common grade 3/4 toxicities were neutropenia (9.52 %), thrombocytopenia (4.76 %), and sensory neuropathy (4.76 %). For 12 patients receiving 120 mg/m(2), the overall response rate and disease control rate were 41.67 and 83.33 %, respectively, and the median progression-free survival and overall survival were 5.23 and 12.17 months, respectively.
Conclusions: Treatment with albumin-bound nab-paclitaxel (120 mg/m(2)) plus gemcitabine has a favorable safety profile with an encouraging antitumor effect in Chinese patients.